MS Human Relations and Business

Discussion in 'Business and MBA degrees' started by daniellevine, Feb 27, 2010.

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  1. daniellevine

    daniellevine New Member

    MS Human Relations and Business (exact title of degree), Amberton University

    Just curious what you guys and girls think about this degree (at least its title) in the job market. I've been posting a lot here about potential MBA programs. My biggest problem is simply that I'm not sure these traditional AACSB programs really fit me, as most of them are based on my weakest areas (statistics, market analysis, economics.) So, Amberton, besides being cheap and non-AACSB, appeals to me with a lot of their courses, which include more interpersonal business methods like Developing Potential, Motivation, Nonverbal Communication, and various courses on leadership. I am more interested in the management/leadership/training aspects of business than in raw numbers and production. Of course, don't confuse this with with Human Resources; most of those jobs involve too much paperwork and political correctness for my personal taste, although the right type of HR job could come along. Also, I'm not as excited about an MS Management degree after looking at the curriculum (too much based on broad organizations.)

    The Human Relations and Business degree includes courses in business and management (roughly half the ciriculum) although most are not statistically based. The other half is the programs I mentioned above, which interest me a lot, and are tied into business settings. I'd say this is like a psychology-business program. Additionally, they have an MBA in Executive Leadership which is probably 75% business. The problem there is less breathing room for areas that suit me better and 12 credits in prerequisites. Still an option.

    So, without knowing much about the this degree (which few would since this program is unique), what would you think if someone said they had one. Or if you were an employer, what would your reaction be? Would you toss the resume aside if you were looking for a strict MBA candidate? I'm curious because there are a couple of outcomes I don't want. First, I don't want to invest the time in school for this degree if it is waste of time because an MBA is the only way to go. Second, I really don't want this to be confused with a Human Resources degree, because that particular line of work does not interest me.

    Thanks for the feedback.

    Daniel
     
  2. TonyM

    TonyM Member

    Stick wth the familiar

    The content sounds nice, but I think you're right to worry about name recognition. Something traditional like an MS in Management or an MBA with concentrations might be more reliable. It's human nature to be suspicious of the unfamiliar. Some cynics might think you somehow cut corners to avoid the degrees they are familiar with and wonder why you took an alternate route (and with cynics the more you justify yourself the more they will doubt). If you are already set in your career it's probably not as important. They will look and see that you did this job and that work, and note that you also have master's. However, if the degree is for initial entry into a business field intuition tells me to play it safe and stick with traditional programs. This is just my guess. I'm not in business.
     
  3. The big question - why do you want a business (or business-type) degree, and how do you think you'll use what you learn?

    I'd argue that MBAs aren't based on your "weakest areas" but rather that as part of a complete education a wide variety of courses is a good idea.

    I personally didn't like finance or accounting but got through them and learned something in both courses that I use regularly. I didn't mind stats and surprisingly liked production/operations, but again, they all provided value.

    If you're jumping through hoops to find a "business lite" program just to avoid these courses then I suggest doing some thinking as to why you'd pursue the degree in the first place...
     
  4. daniellevine

    daniellevine New Member

    Guitarmark and TonyM,

    Thank you both for the feedback.
     
  5. Diesel13

    Diesel13 Member

  6. 03310151

    03310151 Active Member

    I replied to D13 in his thread with my opinion which you absolutely should ignore on its face but there might be a nugget or two of useful information in there.

    I too was looking at that program at AU, but settled on an MBA. The accounting and finance courses are difficult as is the stats, and I struggled through them. But, I will tell you what...I learned quite a bit in those courses. Its funny I kind of breezed through Marketing, IT Management, Strategic Management and probably did not get as much out of those courses. I got a lot out of stats, acct, and finance. Whew. Hard work, but very much worth it.

    Good luck in your studies.
     
  7. major56

    major56 Active Member

    Daniel,

    You might want to consider Tarleton State University which offers the Master of Science in Management and Leadership (MSML) online and will be tuition competitive with Amberton. I’m not in agreement, but the MSML degree core course requirements don’t include finance, statistics or accounting. Moreover Tarleton State is ACBSP accredited whereas Amberton’s business department carries no programmatic accreditation; and Tarleton is an institutional member of the Texas A&M University System.

    DEGREE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE MS DEGREE IN MANAGEMENT AND LEADERSHIP: http://www.tarleton.edu/mmas/documents/degreereq-MSML.pdf
    MSML web page: http://www.tarleton.edu/mmas/msml.html

    Disclosure: I’m presently completing a second MBA with Tarleton State.
     
  8. daniellevine

    daniellevine New Member

    Very useful feedback in this thread, and it's much appreciated. I'm glad that once again some Amberton students are here to help. I also took a look at the Tarleton State program, which looks interesting. University of the Rockies looks nice for what I like to study, but relatively expensive considering no AACSB.

    A very relevant thread, Diesel and Cory. That is very helpful. My problem is that I want to find a program that seems well suited for my personality, and the domino effect of thinking is hard to ignore. Ideally, where school names and degree names don't matter, I would love to get a MA Professional Development at Amberton. Then I say, "hey, why not get 85% of that program, and also get the word 'business' in the degree." Then, why not just change a few classes and get the reliable MBA? And finally, why not just go a little further, get AACSB, and never have doubts? So, that is the way I can't help thinking about this. Of course, by the time I get to AACSB, my focus is on the marketability of the degree rather than the areas that I'm really interested in studying.

    One thing I noticed about that thread, Diesel and Cory, is that almost everyone assumed that the "Human Relations and Business" degree is a "Human Resources" degree. Perhaps some of it had to do with Diesel stating that it would open up a career change to Human Resources also. The degree itself is not really a Human Resources, and you could actually complete it with barely any H Res training. Amberton actually has a Human Resources degree which is very different. But, I'm very glad that I saw this thread because one of my major concerns was that employers, when quickly scanning my resume, would assume the same thing. Well, it seems that most people on this board, who are very knowledgeable about degrees, think that MBAs are probably more recognizable and safe, and I have to agree with this assessment.

    If I do the MBA Strategic Leadership I would still be able to fit in quite a few courses of interest, and I would need to spend some time learning statistics (not the worst thing in the world.) So, I guess it would just come down to whether I want to go this route, or go AACSB with UMass Lowell. At least I have narrowed it down to two, from over a hundred schools that I've looked at.
     
  9. daniellevine

    daniellevine New Member

    Also, here is what I know for certain during this process: the state of California is a complete joke. How is it that virtually every other state has an online, in-state tuition based, reputable MBA program? Seriously, this is the biggest state in the nation. Florida has insane discounts for AACSB schools. Texas has some great deals. New York has some amazing values. California just has full tuition for every online AACSB program. What gives?
     
  10. Everything is expensive in California. Try buying a house. My state is being knocked off of its high horse, though, as our economy lags behind the rest of the nation. Too much regulation, too much bureaucracy.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Feb 28, 2010
  11. major56

    major56 Active Member

  12. friendorfoe

    friendorfoe Active Member

    If you like the idea of having an MBA but the quantitative stuff bothers you, you could check out St. Joseph's College of Maine, they have a MBA in Leadership that I really wanted to do (but was turned down for financial aid) http://www.sjcme.edu/

    That being said I would encourage you to learn the finance, accounting and statistics stuff as you will be expected to know this if you have "MBA" on your resume. I hate accounting, but I've had to do it in my recent job, I hate statistics, but I've had to do that too. In fact I haven't had to do finance but guess what? Being that I was hired because of my "business" credentials to work in a technology shop, every time something like that comes up with our group it gets passed off to me. I honestly think if I had done an executive MBA or MBA-lite or some form of MBA program without the quantitative stuff I would have been unprepared for where I am now. If you want to learn that stuff on your own then that would be great, I personally love the Portable MBA series of books as they are pretty much dead on with what you are expected to know as an MBA.

    If you have an MBA it doesn't necassarily mean you will be handed off work like that, unless of course you were hired because of your MBA and thought to be the resident "business" guy.

    And that Human Relations degree sounds just like an HR degree. You'd be better off with an MS in Management (what I consider to be a middle management degree) or a MS in Leadership.
     
  13. Maniac Craniac

    Maniac Craniac Moderator Staff Member

    CUNY offers an MS in Business Management and Leadership. If you decide that the nomeration of an MBA isn't that important, this is something you should at least consider. The tuition is excellent, there is only a 30 credit requirement and CUNY is a quality school.

    http://sps.cuny.edu/programs/msbml/index.html

    I am hoping CUNY starts offering more Master's degrees myself (Linguistics, PLEASE!!!!), although, even for a non-buisness person, this looks quite interesting.
     
  14. degreeseeker1

    degreeseeker1 New Member

    I posted a comment (degreeseeker1) last week and it's still yet to be posted? Why? I really wanted to help indetermining a degree from this group. Hope you will post soon.
     
  15. airtorn

    airtorn Moderator

    It has been less than a week since your join date and there is no record of another post under your name.

    What help do you need?
     
  16. Pilot

    Pilot Member

    Hello Daniel,
    It's been a while since this post, I am curious to know if you finally made the jump and enrolled in the Human Relations and Business degree. It is also of great interest to me and I have been procrastinating for the longest time. I have also explored the MA in Professional Development at Amberton, but always worried about how it would be perceived.
    I would also like to get some advice for posters...
    Thanks
     

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